Featured Friday Card Maker Ruza R, Northern Illinois

TGIF! Is anyone else ready for a weekend? It’s crafty time, and this week you get to meet Ruza. She lives near the Wisconsin border with her loving husband of 30-years and their Special Needs Daughter. Her son and his family live within 20-minutes of our home….how fortunate is she! Ruza is also fortunate to have a ton of talent – she’s been blogging at Ruza’s Craft Corner for 4-years! Be sure to leave her some love here, and go follow her blog…you’re going to love her creations! -Sandy

How long have you been stamping/card making?
– I started my card making journey 4-1/4 years ago after visiting the CHA Show in Rosemont, IL. I started out making cards for family and friends, and never stopped.

Do you have a craft room or specific area where you stamp/craft?
– Yes I do. It’s a combination craft/laundry room (picture below). We just added the craft section to my laundry room last year over the Summer so I create while the laundry is going. I do my coloring of images at my kitchen table during the evenings, and then hit the craft room while the laundry is going OR when my daughter is at her Day Program 3-days a week.

What are your favorite stamp/craft products?
– I can’t just pick one or even a few since there are sooo many! Some of the products I use on a regular basis are Technique Tuesday, MFT, Papertry Ink, SRM Products, Enamel Dots, Bling, Copic Markers, Chalk Pencils for extra shading, etc.

Do you have a favorite technique?

– I love coloring with my Copic Markers, and have started playing with Faber-Castell Gelato’s to create backgrounds. I prefer creating Clean and Simple cards so that extra postage is not required for mailing my cards.

Have any particular OWH sketches or tutorials served as inspiration for your cards?

– I’ve used several of the OWH sketches, but am inspired by many different Sketch Challenge Blogs in cyber-land.

Do you prefer digis or stamps?
– I have both digital and stamps. I love how easy it is to change the size of digital stamps or flip them to meet my needs. However, working with regular stamps does have its advantages.

Do you have a favorite theme?
– No. It depends on the image I’m working with.

Are there colors you love to include on your cards?
– Not really. I have tons of design paper and just but don’t use it very often.

How did you hear about Operation Write Home?
– I heard about OWH thru PaperCrafts Magazine. I discovered that the cards that were entered into the World Card Making Day Challenge that didn’t get chosen were sent to OWH.

What motivates you to make cards for our heroes?
– I have been on over a dozen different Digital Design Teams since I started my blog 4-1/2 years ago. That means creating a LOT of cards! I don’t sell my cards, and had boxes of them just sitting on a shelf. After hearing about OWH I went thru my cards and pulled out all of the cards that met the OWH parameters. I know that they are appreciated and would be put to good use. Now when I design a card I create them to meet the OWH parameters as much as possible.

Hi Ruza, love your art. Went to your blog and enjoyed seeing that, and Sandy unboxing your cards. Hope everyone checks it out. Your attention to detail is astonishing!
Love your texture card, and “Hello Sunshine” with the simple rectangle for the sun’s rays. So original. And my color CASE for the day is aqua and yellow. Thanks for the inspiration. Just betting that your laundry never piles up!

Ruza, your coloring is wonderful! I love how you colored the little girls with the umbrella and the flowers. The details on their hair, faces, and clothing is so eye-catching. Thank you for being part of OWH! 🙂

Wow–your coloring is truly amazing! I LOVE LOVE LOVE those foxes. Absolutely stunning. What is that stamp? Those little cats are so cute, and the people are amazing. I love how they have freckles!! tfs all your beautiful creations. btw, i used to live in Rockford, now in Mass though.

Ruza, I have been following you for a while now. I love your work. I love your coloring. I think I have 3 favorites here today. I really love the fox card. The texture of the fur is wonderful. I like the Love Hugs Kisses card with the 3 little kittens and the card with the textured triangles makes me happy. Your work is beautiful. Congratulations for being the FFCM. You deserve it. TFS By the way….nice craft room.